HERSTORIES
Career perspectives from the Professional Chapters Committee as told during the “Celebrating Technology Leaders Episode 16”
This March, in celebration of Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the inspiring stories of the women in the ACM Women Professional Chapters Committee: Bettina Bair, Wendy Chen, Laura Dillon, and Ace Hulus, at very diverse stages in their careers and having followed different routes into computing. Most of these past histories (or rather “herstories”!) were shared as part of an extended conversation with ACM-W Global Co-Chair Bushra Anjum, in the first part episode 16 of the ACM Women “Celebrating Technology Leaders” series. You can find all our past episodes here.
Bettina
Bettina Bair, former ACM-W Global Communications Chair, now chairs the professional chapters committee. In her words:
“I have been a computing professional for about 40 years. My journey began in 1978, during my first year as an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, when I learned Fortran programming on a mainframe computer the size of a living room. Over time, my technical skills and management experience led me to work in aerospace engineering, missile systems development, and early telecom systems.
In the mid-90s, I became interested in a new technology called the Internet. For several years, I built websites for small businesses while teaching business courses at small colleges and tech schools. When the dot-com boom took off, I leveraged my experience to transition into academia, joining Ohio State University. This was the realisation of my career ambitions, and I have now been in academia for 25 years.
Since moving into academia, I have been deeply involved with ACM. I first joined the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education and later discovered ACM-W through SIGCSE conferences. ACM-W became a crucial source of support for me, especially when I faced rejection, hostility, and harassment in the workplace. In 2005, with ACM-W’s backing, I founded the first Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing—an event now celebrating its 20th year. I also established both a professional and a student ACM-W chapter in Central Ohio. Over the years, I have served on the ACM-W Executive Committee in multiple roles, most recently as Communications Chair, and I now lead the Professional Chapters Committee.
A fun fact about me: despite my extensive experience, I never pursued a PhD myself—but through my work in academia, I have helped many others achieve theirs!”
Wendy
Dr Yawen “Wendy” Chen is a Senior Lecturer of Systems and Computing at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Canberra, Australia. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Adelaide in 2008. Before joining UNSW, she was a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand from 2012 to 2023.
She shared with the live audience at CTL, “my journey started at Otago University in New Zealand, where I initiated the Dunedin ACM-W professional chapter. Last year, I moved to the University of New South Wales in Australia, so I started the Canberra ACM-W professional chapter. Leading an ACM-W professional chapter has been incredibly exciting because it allows me to build strong, supportive communities and foster diversity and inclusion locally and globally. As a computing educator, I understand the importance of mentorship and support networks. Balancing my career with family life, I have two kids, which has given me an even deeper appreciation for these aspects. I’m passionate about increasing engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, where there’s a lot of potential to strengthen representation and create more opportunities for women in computing.”
Laura
Prof Laura Dillon is an Emeritus Professor at Michigan State University, USA. In her story, she reflects with gratitude about how much chance and luck were part of her journey, as much as having an interest in mathematics and science. She shared, “I never had a clear plan for where I was going, and my journey into computing began by chance. The turning point came the summer before my first year of high school. My family lived in Michigan, but at 14, I moved to Peru to help my aunt before the rest of my family joined me. My Spanish was basic, and I initially attended the local school my aunt ran. However, I quickly realised that the education there wasn’t the same as what I would have received in the U.S. Determined to find a better fit, I convinced my aunt to take me to the American School of Lima. I met with the principal, explained my situation, and was accepted. There, I had incredible maths and science teachers who challenged me and made me believe I was meant to be a mathematician. Years later, I pursued a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan. I loved studying topology—the theory was beautiful—but I found myself frustrated by its lack of practical applications.
Midway through my PhD, my marriage ended, and I took a year off to reassess my path. That summer, I was in Montana when the university’s programming instructor unexpectedly passed away just before the semester began. At the time, I had taken only two programming courses at the University of Michigan and had never taught computer science—only maths. Despite this, I was asked to teach COBOL and BASIC in the Business School. I hadn’t learned these languages, but by staying a week ahead of my students, I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed computing. It was both fun and useful—similar to mathematics but with clear, real-world applications.
That experience led me to pursue computing seriously. I decided to return to do a PhD, so I restarted form scratch (this time in Computer Science and at the University of Massachusetts), remarried, and had a baby while finishing my degree. By the time I graduated, I was pregnant with my second child and had secured my first job.
Looking back, I never had a set plan—I simply followed my instincts and embraced opportunities as they came.”
Ace
Dr Asegul “Ace” Hulus, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), has been an assistant professor at the University of Greenwich and is currently enjoying her role as investigative journalist for ACM-W Professional Chapters. In her “herstory”, she shared with CTL listeners: “to give you a bit of context about my origin, I need to tell you a short story. I was born and raised in the UK, but my parents decided to move to Cyprus. As a little girl, I had an interest in gaming and grew up wanting to study Computing, but in Cyprus, I was told I could not because I would be the only female and I should study English Language Teaching (ELT). I didn’t want to cause trouble for my parents then, but I asked to audit computer courses, which was accepted. After graduating, I returned to the UK, where I did my second master’s in computing in HCI. I did a PhD as revenge for all those years. Now, I have over ten years of experience lecturing and conducting research in Cyprus and the UK (I was an assistant professor at Greenwich). So, how does this tie into ACM-W? It’s where I found my home: I serve on the professional chapters committee, and as an investigative journalist, I get to interview other professional chapters around the world – my passport is full of virtual stamps. While I was initially pushed into ELT, my writing skills resulted from that experience. We all end up finding our way. Now, I’m back in Cyprus, where I support others through ACM-W, empowering the current and future generations to support each other.”
For this newsletter, we have paraphrased and adapted to the written format these wonderfully diverse and inspiring herstories, originally shared in a conversation with Dr Bushra Anjum. To hear these in full in the voices of Bettina, Laura and Ace, watch the first half of Celebrating Technology Leaders Episode 16. The second half of this episode turned its focus onto professional chapters, which we will feature next month in our newsletter.